In the grey light of a tropical dawn on 6th July 1968, fifty men assembled at the government wharf, Sohano, on the south coast of Bougainville Island. They were members of the Royal Papua Nugini Constabulary, and they were armed with long wooden pick-axe handles. An […]
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All metal deposits that have formed later than the rocks that host them (that is, epigenetic deposits) have got there by virtue of fluid transport along faults and their location, shape, size and attitude are largely determined by the strain states that existed within the fault […]
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Strike and dip is a convention for measuring the attitude of a planar structure, such as a bedding plane, fault, joint or vein, in terms of the angles which it makes with the geographic coordinates of the earth’s surface – north-south, east-west and up-down. You probably know […]
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Producing a geological map is a process of problem solving. One of the best ways to approach problem solving is known as the system of multiple working hypotheses. Something of a buzz phrase in all sciences nowadays, not many know that the idea was first formulated in […]
Read more →There are many, many times more prospectors and geologists exploring for mineral deposits than there are ore bodies to be found. It is entirely feasible for a competent explorationist to go through a career and never be able to claim sole credit for an economic mineral discovery. It […]
Read more →As little as ten years ago, before orienting drill core became routine, geologists hardly ever measured structures in their core. Much useful information relevant to understanding geology and hence finding and defining ore bodies was ignored. Now the tendency is to fill vast data bases with hundreds […]
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In the semi-desert mulga and saltbush plains of far western New South Wales there is a low rocky range. The famous explorer Charles Sturt came here in 1844 and climbed a prominent ridge to gain a view to the North West where he hoped to find a […]
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“But” said the driller “it’s a great system. Works every time, always gives a perfect answer. And look – it’s got an LCD readout” Behind him the Project geologist nodded in mute agreement. They were talking about the Reflex ACT tool for orienting diamond drill core… and […]
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William of Occam (or Ockham) was a 14th century English Franciscan monk and philosopher who gave his name to the principal now known as Occam’s razor. This is a well known philosophical principle that has universal application in all fields of problem solving. It states that, given […]
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My name is Marjoribanks. Well, you know that. But you may not know that I (perhaps, perversely) pronounce it in the traditional Scottish way marshbanks, to rhyme with harsh pranks. Now I do not for a moment expect people to know this – any reasonable attempt at […]
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